Muppets Take Manhattan Movie Storybook - Kermit and Piggy's Lost Wedding!

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I don't know if this is common knowledge or not, but I recently got to buy the 1984 Movie Storybook of Muppets Take Manhattan (from Amazon.com). It's really gorgeous, a lot of dialogue and actual screen shots from the movie. However, what thrilled and amazed me most was the ending.

Kermit and Piggy make like they're getting married on stage during the performance of Manhattan Melodies; this we all know. But according to the movie storybook, just after that, this happens...

"In the middle of the excitment Kermit leaned over to Gonzo, who was playing his best man. 'Hey, Gonzo' he whispered. 'Why didn't you play the minister? And who was that actor who took your place?'

'That was no actor,' Gonzo corrected him. 'That was a real minister.'

'Piggy!' Kermit yelled.

'Oh Kermy, I'm so happy!' Piggy cried, and she did look happy. Very happy. Very, very happy.

Kermit gulped. But then he took her hand and smiled. 'What better way could anything end, hand in hand with a friend?' he sang. And with all their friends around them onstage, he drew Piggy close and kissed his new bride."

In this part of the book there's a screen shot of Gonzo and Kermit talking at the altar with Piggy watching.

Muppet Wiki also confirms this:

"Both Storybook and Comic Book adaptations include some scenes that weren't in the movie, indicating that some scenes were deleted from the film. Scenes in both of these include a sequence where Statler and Waldorf attempt to cure Kermit's amnesia, and a scene where Gonzo told Kermit that the minister at the wedding was a real minister."

It is very possible that they at least planned for this to be the original ending, but then backed off of it! I have to say, I would love to have seen this.

 

[theprawncracker]

THAT IS SO INTERESTING! WOW! That's SO cool! Thanks for sharing, heralde!

 

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No problem, glad you liked it! I'd love to know what went on during the writing of the movie, if they really intended that ending first, and why they changed their minds. Maybe they just didn't want to get rid of the "Piggy Loves Kermit Who is Not Interested" jokes. Hehe

Still, from now on I'm going to assume K&P really did tie the knot, lol. "They got married!"

 

[Count von Count]

That is Cool.

 

[Ruahnna]

Pardon me while I scream. "YES! YES! I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU!"

I didn't realize that everyone didn't know this, but you are correct about the story book. Kermit DID come to understand that--unless he protested it--this was a REAL wedding. That was clearly the INTENT of JIm and company ALL ALONG.

The joke about Kermit not wanting Piggy although she wants him--the reason that was even funny was because WE all know (the audience all knows) that Kermit is just fooling himself (and not very well.) We all looked at the frog and said, "Poor thing--doesn't stand a chance." And deep down, Kermit knew it too. It was part of what made him so darn GRUMPY--his inability to un-ensnare himself from her hold over him.

If you doubt that this love affair was considered pre-ordained, and epic love, from day one, just go back and watch "Never Before." That dream sequence isn't one-sided. Kermit looked at Piggy and saw his future--their future.

IMNHO, acting like this didn't happen and wasn't part of the plan just makes the people in charge look silly.

 

[CensoredAlso]

The joke about Kermit not wanting Piggy although she wants him--the reason that was even funny was because WE all know (the audience all knows) that Kermit is just fooling himself (and not very well.) We all looked at the frog and said, "Poor thing--doesn't stand a chance." And deep down, Kermit knew it too. It was part of what made him so darn GRUMPY--his inability to un-ensnare himself from her hold over him.

Exactly! That's why the jokes can't just be Kermit making fun of Piggy. There has to be the undercurrent that we know Kermit really wants her too.

And I love how apparently the rest of the group was willing to go along with replacing Gonzo with the Minister. Granted, Piggy might have had a hand in "persuading" them, hehe. Still, if they wouldn't have done it if they didn't think Kermit would be happy.

 

[Drtooth]

Know what's weird? This isn't the only kid's book version of a movie that had shots of a deleted scene. I've heard tell the Muppet Movie book had a shot of Statler and Waldorf at the El Sleazo Cafe that was cut from the final product.

I even have a George of the Jungle kid's book that has an entire page about a dream sequence cut from the final movie.

BTW, would this happen to be in the book and record version as well? I think I still have that book somewhere.

 

[CensoredAlso]

BTW, would this happen to be in the book and record version as well? I think I still have that book somewhere.

In the record version, the one that Scooter narrates, we don't hear of the Gonzo/Minister switch, but Scooter grandly ends the story with "Miss Piggy's fondest dreams came true! Not only was she a Broadway star, but a Broadway bride as well. In the show's grand finale, she and her beloved frog were married, at last."